The present invention generally relates to the remote monitoring of a patient. More specifically, the present invention relates to a monitoring system that can be installed in a patient""s home and transmits select vital signs taken from the patient over a wireless communication network.
Congestive heart failure is a rapidly growing disease that affects an estimated 20 million people worldwide, including an estimated 4.7 to 6 million in the United States alone. According to the American Heart Association, more than 250,000 Americans die from congestive heart failure each year.
In the treatment of chronic illness, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it is important to monitor the patient on a regular basis since changes in the patient""s vital signs, including weight, blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen saturation, serve as indicators of the worsening of the patient""s condition. Early detection of changes in these patient vital signs allow a physician to adjust the patient""s medication, treatment or diet before the symptoms reach a critical state.
In order to constantly monitor a chronic disease patient, the patient must come into a clinic or hospital and have their vital signs monitored, sometimes on a daily basis. The cost to the clinic or hospital to perform the continuous monitoring of the patient is expensive and labor-intensive. As a consequence, patients are often monitored on a less frequent basis than is optimal.
Since many congestive heart failure patients are elderly and may not be able to transport themselves to a clinic or hospital, the process of returning to a clinic or hospital on a regular basis is a daunting prospect for many of these patients. Further, the congestive heart patients may live in remote rural locations, which requires the patient to make long commutes, which consumes a significant amount of the patient""s time.
Therefore, a need exists for an in-home monitoring system that allows the patient to remain in his or her own home and collect the vital signs on a daily basis. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote monitoring unit that transmits the recorded vital signs to a remote main data collection station so that the collected data can be reviewed by a clinician. Further, it is an object of the present invention to store the collected patient vital signs in a database and trend the data over a selected time interval, such as daily/weekly/monthly. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a home monitoring system that is easy to use and utilizes audio instructions to direct the patient through the process of gathering their own vital signs. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a home monitoring system that transmits data over a wireless communication network. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a home monitoring system that provides dual communication modes to ensure that the vital signs collected by the monitoring system of the present invention can be transmitted to the main data collection station, whether by wireless communication or standard telephone wiring.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.